But You Didn't
by BlackOblivion
Summary: Remember that day when I lost to you again? I thought you'd dethrone me, but you didn't. Remember that day I denied your power once again? I thought you'd give up on me, but you didn't. Based off the poem 'But You Didn't'. Poem credit goes to original creator and BLEACH belongs to Tite Kubo.


_Remember that day I lost to you again?  
I thought you'd dethrone me  
_

Ichigo was panting harshly, breaths of air taken in large amounts, trying to fill his lungs with enough oxygen again. His grip on his sword had tightened redundantly, feeling his legs start to tremble and buckle beneath him, unable to hold his weight. Buildings were falling around him, creating giant clouds of dust around him, hazing up his vision. He didn't want to look at his wounds currently in the time of rest since pain usually came from sight, so he had to ignore the feeling of blood running down his skin.

"_Already beaten? How sad…And here I thought I trained ya better than this!" _A distorted voice sounded. You could almost _hear _the smirk in that voice. Ichigo tensed up even more than he already was, shifting his gaze around the area, searching for the holder of the voice. Currently he was dueling with his Hollow…and losing of course. Again. It was the same result all the time. Just then he felt a cold blade brushing against his throat, drawing only a thin line of blood. A gasp escaped Ichigo as the edge of it pressed closer to his throat. He then felt a warm breath ghosting over his ear, making him close to trembling.

"_Don't disappoint me like this. Ya better hope to win next time…" _Shirosaki let out a breathy chuckle, most likely on purpose, and pulled away, a smirk still on his face.

"_I'd rather continue with these fights however…" _

_But you didn't_

-888-

_Remember that day I denied your power?  
I thought you'd give up on me_

"_Lemme out! King, don't ya fucking waste yer life, give me control!" _His Hollow's voice was screaming at him to let him out. Inside, Ichigo was smiling…It sounded like Shirosaki cared. But he didn't want to bother him with this fight. Gaining his determination back, he directed his focus to the Espada standing in front of him. Grimmjow…

"Don't tell me that's all ya got, Kurosaki!" Grimmjow grinned, lunging forward much quicker than Ichigo would have thought. Or he was just tired out from the time of the battle. A punch was sent at his gut, making him cough out bits of saliva, the force sending him crashing into a building. Charging energy into Tensa Zangetsu, he got up shakily, bringing the blade upward and swinging it in the direction of Grimmjow, a black arc flying toward his opponent, crossing his fingers that it would hit. When it did, he felt triumph fill his veins….and then disappear. It left a big cut across his chest…but nothing else. He poured in all the power he could muster and it only left a cut on the Espada's chest…!

"_Tch. I don't want ya to die…I am taking control." _At that, he felt a burning sensation in his eye, which made him instinctively cover it with his palm. "Stop…!" Ichigo pleaded, not seeing the attack nearing him, not until it hit him like a crashing wall. One eye had already turned completely black, the brown color of the iris switched to yellow. The blackness was already creeping up the other eye…The denial of power had eventually had Shinji come to save him. He had lost…

"_I told ya, ya idiot…Believe in me sometimes will ya? Like I said before, I don't need ya dying." _

Sooner or later…Ichigo had finally developed some sort of feeling toward his Hollow. Love, longing…?

_But you didn't_

-888-

_Remember that day I asked someone else for help to make you jealous?  
And you really did get jealous?  
I thought you'd leave me_

"Renji? You want to do a quick spar? I need help to get a bit stronger…" Ichigo mumbled the last words, afraid of anyone going to see the lie through them. In all honesty, he wanted his Inner Hollow to get jealous…Or notice his actions at least. Renji had quickly agreed, pairing his agreement with a snarky comment.

During the whole spar, insults, or tips, were thrown at each other. The spar had lasted about thirty minutes, leaving both of them panting, the grips on their Zanpaktous loosening by the second.

"Hah…Maybe we should do this more...!" Renji smirked, punching Ichigo on the shoulder, letting him leave back to his own house in the Living World. However, the instant Ichigo stepped in his own house, he let out a gasp his vision going dark. It slowly took over all of his vision and went into unconsciousness.

After awhile of regaining his own mind, he opened his eyes, still blurry from the amount of time he had them closed. Blinking them a few times to refresh them, the shapes soon became definite and the details started to appear…He was in his Inner World. Does that mean Shiro brought him here?

"_Yer goddamn right I brought ya here. What were ya doin'?!" _Shirosaki growled out, narrowing his eyes dangerously at his King, who was still trying to get all of this processed through his mind.

"Eh…? I was just trying to get some rest…" Ichigo took note of the anger radiating off the albino. Why was he angry? Was it…jealousy? Had Ichigo gotten Shirosaki jealous?

"_Don't fuckin' play around. Why did ya ask that…__**Shinigami**__for help!? Ya could have asked me instead of that weak loser…" _Shirosaki glared down at Ichigo, both angry and jealous at him. What did Renji have that he didn't?

Ichigo could only blink, feeling extremely guilty now. Was Shirosaki going to leave him…? Shirosaki noticed the thought and softened his glare at Ichigo.

"_Look, I could train ya better than any one of them. Say the word and I'll be there any day." _He smirked, giving his King permission to leave for today, leaving a nice…parting gift. Shirosaki bent down, giving a swift kiss on his cheek, causing a blush from them. Hah…How cute.

_But you didn't_

-888-

_Remember that day I insisted on taking you outside and it was raining?  
Like you said.  
I thought you'd say 'I told you so'_

"_Hey, Shiro? I was wondering if you could materialize out in the real world…"_ Ichigo thought, not wanting anyone to think he was crazy or insane in the head. The minute the words left his lips, he felt cold arms drape over his shoulders, making him tense up a bit in surprise.

"_Was that a challenge?" _Shirosaki grinned, unwrapping himself from Ichigo, tilting his head to the side, looking outside. _"Ya want me to go outside with ya, right?" _Ichigo just nodded.

"_It's goin' to rain._" Shirosaki said, disgust rolling off his tongue. He hated the rain more than anything else in the world. It was cold. Ichigo huffed, not seeing a cloud in the sky, which there wasn't. How Shirosaki got the assumption from was beyond him.

"It's not. You're coming with me whether you like it or not." Ichigo grabbed a pale wrist and pulled him along out the front door, his family gone on a school trip or something. During the whole drag along, Shirosaki was writhing against the steel grip on his wrist…It's not like it hurt or anything. Just extremely uncomfortable…

Somehow they both ended up at a beach, Ichigo now grasping Shiro's hand, just walking along it. The town was not a long way off, so if needed they could always run back. But that was a good thing because the clear sky turned gray, littered with gray, stormy clouds bringing rain. It actually rained?

Shirosaki cursed under his breath, turning Ichigo around to head back to the town to get under some sort of cover, under an overhang. Both of the teens were soaking wet from the rain, their spikes of their hair sticking together.

"Looks like it actually rained…" Ichigo mumbled, turning away from Shirosaki, afraid of getting yelled at. What happened next was not what he had expected. A towel was placed atop his hair, fingers moving it to dry off the water. Shirosaki was drying off his hair…

A smile formed then and he let him do what he wished.

_But you didn't_

-888-

_Remember that day I almost got killed  
And I blamed you for not helping?  
I thought you'd abandon me_

Ichigo's hand was hovering over where the hole blasted into him was…The hole was gone now…He thought he died. He also found his sword impaled into Ishida…Why?

That's what he remembered. And he could only guess…He was now lying on his bed, face buried into his hands. Internally he was yelling thoughts…directed at his Hollow.

_Why the hell did you take over and hurt my friends!? You were supposed to be _helping_ me not causing trouble! _

He didn't gain any response back. Shirosaki just continued to listen…

_Why couldn't you help me like all those other times!? _

"_If it helps, jus' keep on screamin' at me, King…" _At that Ichigo shut up, blinking. Now all he felt was more guilt…He didn't mean to yell at him like that…

"_No need. I'll always be here, like I said 'fore, right?" _

_But you didn't_

-888-__

Yes there were a lot of things you didn't do, but you put up with me, loved me, protected me.

Cold lips were placed upon Ichigo's, massaging his lips with a blue tongue, while tracing imaginary shapes across Ichigo's back, causing pleasured groans to escape, opening his mouth unintentionally, a tongue sliding in. Their bodies melded together perfectly, as if they were made for one another, which ironically they were.

Shirosaki smirked against the kiss, trailing his tongue across the insides of Ichigo's mouth, putting his palm against the back of the teen's head, making the kiss deeper than before. They stayed like until the necessity for air came to be.

"_Hah…Ya taste better than I thought ya would…Ichigo." _

_There were a lots and lots of things I wanted to make up to you  
After I had gotten stronger  
So you'd walk up to me and praise me_

__ Today was the day…Today was when Ichigo finally gotten strong enough to surpass his Hollow. Ichigo had gotten into his Inner World, almost bouncing up and down in excitement. Maybe today he'll get an well-earned praise from him….Today wasn't that day though.

When he went into the Inner World, he didn't see his Hollow...Not a sound either. He did however, get greeted by Old Man Zangetsu…But why?

"What happened to Shi—" Ichigo started, but got cut off instantly.

"He's gone."

Ichigo's eyes widened, shaking his head. That guy couldn't be gone…Right? He promised he would stay…Why?

"You've gotten stronger…But in the meantime, he had gotten suppressed." Zangetsu explained.

"So…It's my fault?" Ichigo mumbled, not letting Zangetsu hear, but he could probably hear his thoughts. He never meant of this to happen…He only wanted Shiro to be proud of him…Why? Why did he have to leave..

_But you didn't_


End file.
